Dave Huang wrote:

> 
> > Also, IDE support is limited to only PIO modes.  The kernel says:
> >
> > pciide0 at pci0 dev 15 function 1: ServerWorks product 0x0213 (rev 0xa0)
> > pciide0: bus-master DMA support present, but unused (no driver support)
> 
> And this is apparently the ServerWorks CSB6 RAID/IDE controller. Looks
> like DMA support for that is in -current:
> http://mail-index.netbsd.org/source-changes/2003/03/01/0002.html
> But it hasn't made it into 1.6.x... perhaps you could ask for it to be
> included? (Might be too late for 1.6.1 though--I get the feeling that
> it's going to be released very shortly).

Yeah, that's what I was saying about 1.6.1 - it's been talked about for long
enough that I figure it's going to be released any day now.
 
> It should be trivial to patch 1.6.1 yourself to add support... just
> get the current version of the sys/dev/pci/pcidevs* files, and apply
> this patch to pciide.c:
> http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/src/sys/dev/pci/pciide.c.diff?r1=1.180&r2=1.181

Ah, very good.  I've not the time to try it now, but it looks like this is a
straightforward enough patch that there should be no problems.  While it's
interesting to see how performance scales when you run an Ultra/100 drive in PIO
mode 4, I'm definitely looking forward to DMA modes.
 
> And if you'd like, you could try a 1.6.1 release candidate from
> ftp://releng.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD-daily/netbsd-1-6/ to see if the
> ethernet works...

Yes!  I had forgotten about the releng server.  I used it a few times for 1.6
release candidates, but then it faded from my mind.  Turns out the latest i386
GENERIC kernel works with the ethernet board flawlessly.

For the prices Dell is asking, this server is definitely worth the money IMHO. 
And now that NetBSD is fully working on it, that's all the more reason to buy
one!  I don't work for Dell or anything; I'm just a satisfied owner of two 600SC
machines.

-- 
Henry Bent
hbent@cs.oberlin.edu